DeFi Development Corp. (Nasdaq: DFDV), a real-estate software firm and Solana- focused treasury company, announced Monday it has agreed to acquire a Solana validator business with an average delegated stake of 500,000 SOL ($75.5 million) for $3.5 million. $3.5M Deal: DeFi Development Corp. Bolsters Solana Treasury Strategy The deal, according to the release published on Monday, […]

DeFi Development Corp. Acquires Solana Validator Business for $3.5M

President Donald Trump’s electrifying endorsement of crypto signals a massive 
momentum shift, as he vows U.S. dominance in digital assets, blasting rivals 
and touting crypto’s unstoppable popularity. Trump: I Want Crypto Because 
Millions of People Want It U.S. President Donald Trump voiced strong support 
for cryptocurrency during a May 4 interview on NBC’s Meet the […]

Trump Declares Full Support for Crypto on National TV—‘Millions Want It’

Samourai Wallet&#8217;s lawyers allege federal prosecutors suppressed advice that 
the firm didn&#8217;t need a license before they charged executives at the crypto 
mixing service months later.
In a May 5 letter to a Manhattan federal court, lawyers for Samourai co- 
founders Keonne Rodriguez and William Hill said prosecutors disclosed that the 
US Treasury Department&#8217;s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) 
representatives told them six months before they charged the pair &#8220;that under 
FinCEN&#8217;s guidance, the Samourai Wallet app would not qualify as a &#8216;Money 
Services Business&#8217; requiring a FinCEN license.&#8221;
&#8220;Shockingly, six months later, the same prosecutors criminally charged Keonne 
Rodriguez and William Hill with operating just such a business without a 
FinCEN license,&#8221; the lawyers added.
The letter claimed that prosecutors were required to share their discussions 
with FinCEN over Samourai two weeks after they unsealed charges, making the 
deadline May 8 last year, but instead &#8220;suppressed this information for over a 
year, disclosing it only on April 1, 2025.&#8221;
Prosecutors charged Samourai CEO Rodriguez and its technology chief Hill with 
conspiracy to operate an unlicensed money transmitting business and money 
laundering conspiracy in February 2024, unsealing the charges and arresting 
the pair in April that year.
Samourai&#8217;s mixing service took crypto from multiple users and blended it 
together to hide its origins. The government alleged the platform helped with 
over $2 billion in illegal transactions and facilitated over $100 million 
worth of money laundering transactions from online black markets and scammers.
Rodriguez and Hill both pleaded not guilty.
In the letter, their lawyers said prosecutors shared details of a call with 
Kevin O&#8217;Connor, chief of FinCEN&#8217;s Virtual Assets and Emerging Technology 
Section in the Enforcement and Compliance Division, and Policy Division 
staffer Lorena Valente.
According to an email from one of the prosecutors summarizing the call, FinCEN 
said that &#8220;because Samourai does not take &#8216;custody&#8217; of the cryptocurrency by 
possessing the private keys to any addresses where the cryptocurrency is 
stored, that would strongly suggest that Samourai is NOT acting as an MSB 
[money services business].&#8221;
_An excerpt of an email from prosecutor Andrew Chan said FinCEN &#8220;did not have 
a sense&#8221; of what it would decide on Samourai. Source: __CourtListener_
The email said O&#8217;Connor and Valente agreed that the government could try to 
argue that Samourai functionally controlled the crypto, &#8220;but that has never 
been addressed in the guidance, and so it could be a difficult argument&#8221; for 
prosecutors.
Samourai&#8217;s lawyers asked the court for a hearing &#8220;to determine the 
circumstances surrounding the Government&#8217;s late disclosure&#8221; and to administer 
a remedy.
## Samourai to renew dismissal bid if case goes on
Rodriguez and Hill&#8217;s lawyers said that, using this latest information, they 
would again ask for the charges to be dismissed, arguing they lacked fair 
notice and &#8220;understood they were acting lawfully.&#8221;
_**Related:**__**US Treasury &#8216;s OFAC can&#8217;t restore Tornado Cash sanctions, 
judge rules**_
Prosecutors and Samourai asked the court for more time on April 28 to consider 
potentially dismissing the case after the Justice Department rolled back its 
crypto enforcement.
Rodriguez and Hill bid to dismiss the case in early April, arguing it should 
be dropped as Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said in an April 7 memo 
that the Justice Department wouldn&#8217;t prosecute crypto mixers for &#8220;unwitting 
violations of regulations.&#8221;
In the latest letter, their lawyers said if the government &#8220;were to resist the 
Blanche Memo&#8217;s directive and push forward,&#8221; then they would bid to dismiss as 
&#8220;if they were not money transmitters under FinCEN&#8217;s guidance, then they could 
not possibly be prosecuted for not having a license.&#8221;
_**Magazine:**__**Tornado Cash 2.0 &#8212; The race to build safe and legal coin 
mixers**_

Samourai Wallet says feds hid advice that crypto mixer was in the clear

The U.S. has unveiled a sweeping draft crypto bill that redefines digital 
asset oversight, igniting momentum for regulatory clarity, investor 
protection, and global market leadership. New US Crypto Asset Bill Draft 
Drops: &#8216;We Made Historic Progress&#8217; The U.S. House Committee on Financial 
Services released a statement on May 5, unveiling a draft bill proposing a […]

US Releases Draft Crypto Framework—‘Golden Age of Digital Assets Is Here’

On-chain data shows the cryptocurrency market as a whole has witnessed capital 
inflows of nearly $19 billion while Bitcoin and others have gone through their 
recovery. Crypto Market Has Enjoyed Net Capital Inflows Over The Past Month In 
a new post on X, analyst Ali Martinez has talked about the latest trend in the 
capital inflows for cryptocurrencies. In the digital asset sector, capital 
mainly flows in and out through three asset classes: Bitcoin, Ethereum, and 
the stablecoins. The altcoins usually only see a secondary rotation of capital 
from these coins. Related Reading: Bitcoin Sandwiched Between Major Support &amp; 
Resistance Levels—Can Bulls Win Out? As such, the netflows related to the 
three of BTC, ETH and the stables can provide a sufficient-enough estimation 
for the situation of the entire cryptocurrency market. For calculating the 
capital inflows/outflows related to Bitcoin and Ethereum, the &#8220;Realized Cap&#8221; 
indicator can be used. The Realized Cap is an on-chain capitalization model 
that finds the total value of any asset&#8217;s supply by assuming the value of each 
individual token as the same as its last transaction price. This is different 
from the usual Market Cap, which just sums up the supply at the current spot 
price. In short, what the Realized Cap reflects is the amount of capital that 
the investors of the cryptocurrency as a whole have put into it. Changes 
related to the metric, therefore, reflect the inflow or outflow of capital. In 
the case of the stablecoins, the change in the Market Cap is enough to gauge 
the capital netflow. This is down to the fact that the Realized Cap is no 
different from the Market Cap for them, as a result of their price never 
varying from the fiat currency that they are pegged to. Now, here is the chart 
shared by the analyst that shows the trend in the 30-day aggregate 
cryptocurrency market netflow based on these indicators over the past month: 
As displayed in the above graph, the combined 30-day Bitcoin and Ethereum 
Realized Cap change is currently at a positive $12.58 billion. This means that 
these two cryptocurrencies have enjoyed a notable net capital inflow during 
the past month. Similarly, the stablecoins have seen a net inflow of $6.19 
billion in the same period. Thus, it seems the digital asset sector as a whole 
has witnessed the incoming of $18.77 billion in capital. Related Reading: 
Bitcoin HODLer Selling Expected Around This Level, Report Says While this 
trend has occurred, Bitcoin and the other assets have gone through their price 
recovery runs, so it&#8217;s possible that as long as these inflows keep up, the 
rallies could be sustainable. It only remains to be seen how the investors 
will behave in the coming days, however, as it often doesn&#8217;t take much for 
sentiment to shift in the cryptocurrency sector. Bitcoin Price At the time of 
writing, Bitcoin is trading around $94,200, down 1% in the last seven days. 
Featured image from Dall-E, Glassnode.com, chart from TradingView.com

Bitcoin Recovery Fueled By Almost $19 Billion In Crypto Inflows, Data Shows

As mentioned in last week’s forecast of XAUUSD, gold continued its bearish 
pattern and broke into the 3200s zone. With global tensions, especially the 
tariff situation easing out, investors were seen shifting their interest from 
safe-haven assets and shifting to…